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WAC TOURNAMENT: Aggies wear down Idaho, advance to WAC semis

By Jason Groves jgroves@lcsun-news.com

Posted:
03/14/2013 02:42:51 PM MDT

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Idaho's Mansa Habeeb (3) and New Mexico State's Daniel Mullings (23) and Renaldo Dixon battle for a rebound during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Western Athletic Conference tournament, Thursday, March 14, 2013 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - In leading his team back to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals, head coach Marvin Menzies turned to an old ally.

NMSU pressed Idaho for 40 minutes, running the No. 6 Vandals off the court in a 65-49 quarterfinal victory at the Orleans Arena on Thursday.

"We thought that we would just start like that, but it was so effective that we just stayed in it," said Menzies, whose team improved to 22-10 on the year. "It used to be a staple in our program. We just saw it (the two games prior) against Arlington and against Louisiana Tech. It was natural to see it in practice a few times. It brought back some good memories. You have to go back to what is effective and that is what we did."

The Aggies play No. 7 Texas State on Friday at 7 p.m. in the WAC semifinals. It was somewhat assumed the Aggies would face No. 2 Denver in the tournament semis, but the Bobcats sprung a 72-68 upset of the Pioneers immediately following NMSU's win. The Aggies swept Texas State in the two teams' home-and-away series during the regular season.

"We are playing the better team because the better team won," Menzies said regarding tonight's matchup. "Denver didn't shoot the 3 well but Texas State had a lot to do with why they struggled, so we have to be ready for their intensity."

Menzies won a regular-season championship in 2007-08 and a WAC Tournament title in 2009-10 by pressing fullcourt before dropping back into a 2-3 zone defense.

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While the Aggies have gone away from that formula the past two season, Menzies returned to it on Thursday. Idaho committed nine turnovers in the second half, creating transition opportunities for NMSU sophomore Daniel Mullings, who led the Aggies with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

"We had an idea that it would be effective," Mullings said. "They were 1-for-7 in the first half. We thought that it was working for us so why not stick with it?"

The Vandals didn't provide much incentive for the Aggies to come out of the zone, shooting 1-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half. Idaho finished shooting 40 percent from the field and was 3-for-19 (15.8 percent) from 3-point territory.

The Aggies shot 60.9 percent in the second half and 60 percent for the game. NMSU scored 25 points off Idaho turnovers and scored 34 points in the paint.

"New Mexico State just wore us down with their pressure and their size," said Idaho coach Don Verlin, who is 0-5 in WAC Tournament games. "We have been pressed a lot and we didn't handle it well tonight. (Menzies) has done that throughout the years."

Aggies senior Bandja Sy was 1-for-5 in the first half, but he hit a step-back 15-footer on the baseline, then followed with a corner 3 from the same side. Just like that, after Idaho had cut the Aggie lead to five with 10 minutes remaining in the contest, NMSU found itself back up eight. Mullings would then hit back-to-back buckets - a floater and driving layin - to put NMSU back up 12, 53-41, with 7:43 to play.

"Going into this game, we noticed that we weren't attacking it a lot," Mullings said. "Coach kept telling me that once we swing it and get inside touches there is going to be holes in the zone."

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